Gettysburg College Top Questions

Best things: education and the professors. The education system is highly flexible and you can basically design your own major in almost any way you'd like. It allows and encourages you to explore many realms of study, but if you don't want to, then that sucks at first, but you'll come to appreciate it later. For example, you must fulfill a math and a science (with lab) requirement in order to graduate, no matter what you major in. This may seem like a burden at first, but in reality it's better to have a basic knowledge of these things, since you will have many more doors of opportunity open to you once you begin hunting for jobs. You will have the choice of working in areas you never considered before you found the job, because the liberal arts education trains you to be a well-rounded person. I know it sounds cliche, and I didn't believe this at first either, but now I see how this is so. And naturally I am the last person to defend or say anything positive about Gettysburg, but I've begun to change my mind as of late. Now, when it comes to social life, I've learned that there is LITTLE you can do here unless you've got a close group of fun, outgoing friends who are open-minded and are willing to do other things than going out to frats and drinking. Even with that, at times there is simply nothing to do (other than homework) and you end up wasting a precious night of the little free time you may have on a friday or saturday night. Which is really a shame. But what can you do? Everything in town closes at around 5pm except the restaurants, which close probably around 10pm the latest. Unless you go to the little bars, which open a bit later...or there's Lincoln Diner which opens 24 hours. But that's it. Small town, lots of tombstones and cemeteries, and mainly nothing but white people (and a small latino population). Oh, right, there's also a small group of international students and foreign nationals, and the school's trying to increase diversity, but it's still lacking in social life. I guess if you ACTUALLY want to go to a school in the city with bustling crowds and a good social life, then it's very hard to get used to Gettysburg's environment. That's my story, anyway. It grows on you, though (the close-knit community of Gburg and the quietness, that is). But then again, social life is totally dependent on the people you hang out with. Without my friends, I would get the hell out of here ASAP. Well, even with great friends I am still trying to get the hell out of here, although perhaps not ASAP as in my first semester. Shame, I was beginning to enjoy it too. So overall, great education but the crappy social life detracts too much from this one good quality. My best advice to you: visit the school, and if it seems a bit boring and not you're thing, you are probably right and you won't be as happy here as you could be elsewhere. Think about it before you choose to come here solely because they offer you a shitload of money.

Gettysburg has a lot of nice facilities for such a small school, especially our dining center called Servo, which is one of the greatest cafeterias in the world. Unfortunately though, the school is definitely a business and sometimes we wonder where our $48,000 a year is going when certain things dont live up to our expectations. Right now we're all pretty sure its going to build the new state-of-the-art gym; whether or not we need it is debatable. The school itself is a bit small and very similar to a high school with the social scene. There's the "in" crowd, which is mainly the Greek community, full of very attractive Lily Pulitzer wearing sorority girls and rich frat boys who wear too much plaid and pastel and are drunk or high 90{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the time. Then there's the nerds, who are obsessed with Civil War history or part of the music department, they don't really go out at night and they don't interact with the Greek life scene. In between these two groups are the students who are cool and interesting and have friends in both groups, like to go out at night, but can't quite break into the "in" crowd. There's pretty much an opportunity all 7 nights a week to drink, and some people take advantage of that. Gettysburg has basically perfected the art of the frat party. Also, sports are HUGE at Gettysburg even though they're DIII, especially lacrosse, and games tend to draw a big crowd. Gettysburg can be interesting as a town for a while but it gets really old. There are only a few bars that students go to, and some of them can be awkwardly full of townies who dont really like the students. Plus there aren't many of the common franchises that you might see in a normal area. My friends frequently drive 30 minutes to get their Dunkin' Donuts fix. Plus the closest nice mall is about 45 minutes away. Overall the best thing about Gettysburg in my opinion is the emphasis on Study Abroad. Over 50{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the students study off campus, and my semester in Australia was by far the best thing that's ever happened to me. Gettysburg makes it really easy to study abroad and so many students have life changing experiences that they may not have had if they had chosen another school. Despite the many things I dont like about Gettysburg, I really appreciate that experience I had, because it was unbelievable.

Gettysburg is a small school that offers the kinds of opportunities typically associated with larger institutions. From day one Gettysburg has boasted of the kinds of things its students were involved with outside of the classroom (excellent academics is a given). There are hundreds of clubs on campus, service learning classes, community service options, research opportunities, internships, Greek life, intramural athletics, and so on. Everyone is involved in something. You find your place here. It is definitely a work hard, PLAY hard atmosphere.

The Gettysburg community is great. It's just small enough that you get to know the people you run into every day on your way to and from classes, but not small enough that you run out of new people to meet. There actually is a lot going on on campus... you just have to go to Student Senate meetings every week to hear about it. Not much actually filters from the meetings to the rest of the students, but if you're in a club, your Senate rep should be conveying the information to you. Most of the town is full of touristy stuff about the Civil War (obviously), and while that might not be your thing, every student has to admit that it is pretty fun to watch people walk around in full regalia and sneak along with the outdoor ghost tours that walk through campus. It's all part of the experience!

Gettysburg is a relatively small school so you will know lots of people you pass on your way to class but you won't know everyone. There isn't much to do in the town of Gettysburg unless visiting battle fields is what you do in your spare time. You will probably find yourself amused by the many ghost tours that wander through the campus at night. If you are looking into playing collegiate sports, G'burg is D III so there is competition but it doesn't take over your whole life. Most importantly the food is good!

Gettysburg is truly a campus community. Its a place where you can easily find your niche and not want to leave. Though at times, it may seem like a TINY college- its big enough where you don't know everyone- even if you wanted to. I think the size is perfect. I spend a lot of my time in the Student Union building, drinking coffee- hanging out with different groups of people. Thats the great thing about Gettysburg, that I've found. You can have so many different groups of friends- and no one thinks twice about it. The only thing is that you have to be involved. It is easy to seclude yourself- and I think the people that are happiest at gburg are the people who want to be an active part of the community- who want to meet as many people as they can- and who want to contribute. The town is incredibly small- but nice. Don't come to gettysburg if you're looking for a metropolis by any means. It is, however, beautiful and the definition of "quaint". The administration is great, for the most part. There was some unrest with our most recent president but she is currently being replaced. I find that sometimes our administration can lean more in the direction of how gettysburg looks on paper rather than what is actually good for the school itself. I don't like that at all. I do think there is a good amount of school pride. People spend their saturdays supporting their friends at soccer, lax, and football games. We all are pretty pround to be "bullets" Gettysburg is awesome because it does have such a unique history. I mean, our administration building was a civil war hospital. I am not AT ALL a history buff and yet- i think its pretty sweet. I have had so many experiences at and through Gettysburg that I will never EVER forget. Whether it be Springfest, or an incredibly fun mixer, or traveling abroad for a semester to Vienna, or singing in Nicaragua with the choir Spring break of my freshman year- I can't repay gburg for all the wonderful memories. Hopefully there are still many more to come!!

Gettysburg is a school centered around working hard and playing harder. The students are extremely studious, but the only reason they get their work done early is so they can party that night. There's a lot of school spirit, a lot of events centered around Greek life, and a strong sense of pride in being a bullet. Orange and blue are prominent colors in everyone's wardrobe.

When looking at Gettysburg College one should remember that it is located in the middle of rural south central Pennsylvania (which out of state people refer to as Pennsyltucky). Often I have heard people used to big city living (mostly from New York), complain that Gettysburg has no clubs, is located in the middle of nowhere, and is "too quiet and slow" for them. If you think Gettysburg is going to have a wild nightlife with parties galor, you'll mostly be restricted to Fraternities, which I've been told are tame in comparison to some of the clubs in New York City. Gettysburg however has the added benefit of being within an hour of Harrisburg, two hours of Washington D.C., and ninety minutes of Baltimore, so if you need to get to a larger city every now and then, you can team up with a few friends and perhaps make a weekend trip of it. As to the complaints of Gettysburg being a small town, how can the town grow anymore when it is surrounded by the National Parks Service (which often threatens to buy up more land every now and then), and whatever the government isn't buying up, the college is buying for extra housing. So while there exists "townies" and people who live in Gettysburg. Mostly I'd say that the very existance of the town itself is restricted to the point it's almost endangered.

To say the people who graduate from Gettysburg College have pride would be a huge understatement. As I drove away from campus after graduating my heart was breaking. The experience that I had at Gettysburg was unbelievable. The campus is gorgeous and the faculty is amazing. The best thing about Gettysburg is not just the beautiful structure but the feeling you have when you are there is undescribable. On beautiful days, you can see hundreds of students parading around campus either playing frisbee, laying out, or just reading. The number of students is a perfect number because if you want to see someone you can, and if you don't you won't. Everyone in Gettysburg is so close and so involved that the whole four years I was there I felt as if I was part of a family. Not only that, but every year I managed to meet new and even more wonderful people. While the school seems small, it isn't, because everyday you find something new and exciting about Gettysburg College. The social life at Gettysburg College is out of this world. Whether you are involved in a sport, part of a sorority, or just a next door neighboor, everyone is out just to have a good time. From fall to spring, there are always fun things going on. From football games to basketball games and then to the outstanding lacrosse season, there is never a dull moment in Gettysburg. Fraternities and sororities go out and support the sports teams and the sports teams support the Greek Life. The connection between students at Gettysburg College has no competition with any other school I have ever heard of.

I really like Gettysburg as a whole. I'm involved in a lot of activities (though I've learned which ones are most important to me and have been able to divide my time accordingly, so that I'm not overcommitted and stressed) and even though it is a fairly small school I feel like I get to be involved in all of the things I wish to do. The faculty are generally very accessible, friendly and willing to help, and same with most of the administration. The dining hall is particularly helpful - they have a lot of options for all different diets (including salad bar, tasty vegetarian and vegan options, and gluten-free fare) and the kitchen is always open if students have any questions (I have Celiac Disease and must eat gluten-free, so their helpfulness has been invaluable). The town is really small, so most of the non-academic student life still takes place on campus, but there's generally a lot of offerings on campus - comedians several times a semester, movie nights with recently released, popular movies, dances and that sort of things, and even happy hours (all organized through the college) - and then there's also student parties. Some complain of the small town but most seem pleased enough with the campus offerings (and the bars in town for the over-21s).